Men's tennis successful at home

By Erin Chambers

Santa Clara men's tennis cornered the concept of home court advantage last weekend.

Fresh off a 6-1 conference victory over St. Mary's the day before, the men overpowered the Cal Poly Mustangs last Saturday at the Santa Clara Tennis Center.

The 7-0 shutout marked the team's second consecutive win at home and improved their overall record to 5-4 on the season. The Broncos have outscored their opponents 13-1 since their loss to No. 3 Stanford last week.

"I thought we competed very well today as a team," Head Coach Sean Burns said. "We attacked on every court and fought really hard on every point, which can be difficult when you are in a position where you are expected to win the match."

Teammates senior Victor Camargo and junior Frederico Mattioli lead the barrage against the Mustangs, opening the day with a crushing 8-4 win on the doubles court.

Split up later that afternoon, the men compteted agressively in singles play as well. Mattioli earned an impressive 6-2, 6-0 victory over Cal Poly's Brandon Shainfield, while Camargo dominated Stacey Meronoff 6-1, 6-1.

"[Camargo] was up 6-1, 5-1 and missed a shot but showed a great deal of intensity and competitiveness," Burns said. "He worked twice as hard on the next point to close out the match. I thought all of our guys showed some really positive traits today in that regard."

A senior originally from Guanajuato, Mex. who transferred from Modesto Junior College, Camargo went 14-8 at the No. 4 singles position in 2001 and won all three of his West Coast Conference dual matches last season. He's proved competitive in 2002 as well with a 6-2, 6-0 win over St. Mary's Arturo Planell last week, and an intense match against No. 3 Stanford as he took No. 45 Scott Lipsky to a tiebreak in the second set.

Due to a combination of Camargo's pressure against Cal Poly and solid play from the entire lineup, the Mustangs were unable to repair the damage done early on by Santa Clara, and secured their only win of the day on the doubles court, as freshman Chris Lam and Rick Ruso fell to Cal Poly's No. 1 duo 8-6.

The Broncos appear to be confident with the home court advantage this season.

"We are really happy to be home again, after spending the entire month of February on the road," Burns said.

The team is undefeated at the Santa Clara Tennis Center in 2002, and plan to maintain the trend against conference rival San Francisco when they finish out a five-game home stand this weekend.